‘It was a great moment’: Lethbridge’s Zack Stringer lands with hometown Hurricanes in WHL draft

Growing up in Lethbridge Zack Stringer has always wanted to play for his hometown Lethbridge Hurricanes. On Thursday the 15-year-old’s fate would lie in the 22 teams selecting players in the WHL Bantam Draft, but he had some piece of mind knowing that if he slipped through the first seven picks he would be a Lethbridge Hurricane.

READ MORE: Former Lethbridge Hurricanes coach leading amazing minor hockey run

“We had discussed (with the Hurricanes) if I was available and still up for grabs that they would take me at eighth,” Stringer said.

Stringer watched the draft with his mom and fellow draft eligible players at the World Selection Invitational tournament in Philadelphia. One after another the picks went by and sure enough, when the eighth overall pick arrived the Lethbridge Hurricanes announced Stringer’s name.

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“It was a great moment. My mom was pretty happy and I was pretty happy” Stringer said. “I’ve been cheering for the Lethbridge [Hurricanes] my whole life basically so it will be fun to be able to play on the team. I’ve watched a couple games in the playoffs and it’s a great energy and there’s a lot of people there.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It was a great moment. My mom was pretty happy and I was pretty happy" Stringer said. "I've been cheering for the Lethbridge [Hurricanes] my whole life basically so it will be fun to be able to play on the team. I've watched a couple games in the playoffs and it's a great energy and there's a lot of people there."

Stringer played as an underage player this season for the Lethbridge Midget ‘AAA’ Hurricanes and put up 46 points in 33 games. He also helped led his team to a bronze medal at the Telus Cup collecting up ten points in seven games.

He’s worked hard to get to where he is now and his family is proud to see him rewarded for those efforts.

“A lot of work has gone into it. He puts in a lot of early mornings,” Zack’s dad Matthew Stringer said. “It’s exciting to have him at home for potentially the next four, or five years. We’re longtime Hurricanes fans and of course Zack has been cheering for them forever. Great staff here with Peter Anholt running the team and good coaching. It’s the best case for us, his family and for Zack’s hockey.”

WATCH: Midget Hurricanes eye national crown

Zack Stringer wanted to be a Lethbridge Hurricane, and the feeling was mutual.

“We were very happy to get him there,” Hurricanes Head Scout Rob MacLachlan said. “When you can put up the numbers that Zack Stringer did in Midget Hockey and go to the Telus Cup and put up the numbers, he did just about what Sidey Crosby did at the Telus Cup, so he’s in an elite group that went to the Telus Cup as a fourteen year old hockey player.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We were very happy to get him there," Hurricanes Head Scout Rob MacLachlan said. "When you can put up the numbers that Zack Stringer did in Midget Hockey and go to the Telus Cup and put up the numbers, he did just about what Sidey Crosby did at the Telus Cup, so he's in an elite group that went to the Telus Cup as a fourteen year old hockey player."

Stringer was one of 10 players the Hurricanes selected Thursday during the draft.